Need any info pajirta that you may have as the rescue in Washington wants to bring a cockatoo down that was in the same household where an African grey had been diagnosed with the disease. This poor girl is in really bad condition and my heart is breaking looking at her pics. I have out of the house quarantine facility and can quarantine inside but you know as well as I do protocols inside are really hard to follow properly, especially with powder birds and if I put her in the other outside building I honestly think any isolation would push her over the top as she's already self mutilating. God I would hate to say no and I'm going to if there's any chance this disease is contagious. I've read that there can be a number of causes especially in the nutritional department. Any info you can help me out with would be greatly appreciated. the reason I posted it here is cause I know you read introductions first and I've only got till early Friday to make my decision. They'll be headed down to cut the manzanita I lined up for them. Thanks Patti

Stargazing, as far as I know, is not a disease. It's a neurological or physical condition so it can be caused by different things BUT, in my personal experience and completely unprofessional opinion, the most common cause is severe malnutrition. I've had a few birds that had it and all of them got better except for a male lovebird that had been starved by the boyfriend of the owner when she broke up with him and moved out leaving the birds behind temporarily. By the time she came back for them, the female had been dead for a couple of days (body still at the bottom of the cage) from starvation and the male was dying. They (the rescue) saved the male but he was left with stargazing (quite severe, actually, his head was all the way back) and damage to both his liver and kidneys so he never could gain any weight (the rescue people called him 'Slim') and needed to be fed from above so they called me (he lived two more years. I am telling you this to illustrate the fact that, sometimes, you can't make them better and, although you can prolong their life, you can't undo internal organ severe damage.

The ones that got better did it through good nutrition with a good quality vitamin/supplement (pellets is not going to do it) AND liquid calcium BUT not the avian one (calciboost or calcivet) - I found that they did better with the human liquid calcium that also have magnesium and phosphorus so you need to be careful about the actual vitamin/mineral supplement you use because you don't want to overdo it with the minerals (especially the calcium!), either (this is the kind of problem where pellets are no good because you need to know EXACTLY how much they are getting in terms of vitamins and minerals and one never knows with pellets).

Understood , } this umbrella was just housed with a star gazer and is a mutilator and I just found out 6 small birds had previously died in the household where the umbrella came from. I just talked to Chris and decided to say no but feel like a piece of you know what. I have to look at the reality of the whole situation , Nigel the terrible ,still is being worked with , but doing nicely , Alyla still wants to eat everyone but me and last summer when so many came in at once I thought I'd hit my breaking point. Thanks for the info ,appreciate it. BW

I didn't want to mention the fact that it was too early still to get yet another new bird with issues because I well know how hard it is to refuse a bird that needs a good home desperately... I also feel like a selfish POS when I do it and very often fail to say no precisely because of the way it makes me feel.

Years ago I took in a budgie with that problem. The owners used him as a joke to show off , they found it hilarious. All I could do was feed him the best that I could because their wasn't the knowledge available 30 years ago. Gave him lots of love and cuddles but it didn't stop , eased somewhat and he lived another 4 years. I console myself knowing that for his last years he was loved and looked after the best that I could do.

I've turned down 3 since this summer and am starting to feel horrible , especially for this one . She is all tore up and in much worse shape physically looking anyway than when she was turned over to the rescue. When he asked me if he could bring her down when they came to cut wood I was referred over to a web site showing there adoptable birds as her picture was in the special needs part. That's when I noticed a grey with spec. Needs that said he was a star gazer and I was in ouestion if either had been properly quarantined. Well long story , I was sent all her admission papers to review and found out the stargazer was from the same home and that other birds , several had passed away. RED FLAG I had asked them to take pics of her cage so I could get one set up before Friday as close to hers as possible to make her more at ease but the pictures that came really made me question my decision. There in the pictures was a pile of sticks {feathers} at the bottom of the cage and she didn't even look like a bird and there were open visible sores. I've got one of those high dollar I pads that will zoom in on a nets ass. Sure didn't like what I see and questioning myself with this new associate I'm making. After reviewing the pictures carefully I called and expressed my thoughts in a somewhat polite way and declined taking her. They are now getting her a poncho and a vet appointment. I told them she needs a woman / retired that can be with her 24/7 unconditional love , proper nutrition and vet care. I'm thinking the rescue like so many others is overwhelmed and I'll do what I can to help. If I was closer I'd volunteer but I'm such a controll freak they would either have to move out of my way or get rid of me. SO SAD SOOO MANY POOR BABIES IN NEED. WISH BREEDERS WOULD TAKE THE TIME TO WORK OR TOUR THESE PLACES OR READ THE HORROR STORIES ON LINE INSTEAD OF WATCHING THE CUTE VIDEOS AND THINKING THERE DOING THE PUBLIC A SERVICE.!!!! Okay I'm starting to vent , sorry I will go cool off now. BW